Cooler for agglomerated material



N. AHLMANN COOLER FOR AGGLOMERATED MATERIAL Feb. 6, 1940.

Filed Aug. 5, 1938 Patented Feb. 6, 1940 V UNITED STATES 2,189,120 v cooum FOR- AGGLOMERATED MATERIAL Nikolai Ahlmann, Frederiksberg, near Copenhagen, Denmark, assignor to F. L. Smidth &

00., New York, N. Y., a corporation of Jersey New Application August 5, 1938, Serial No. 223,335

4 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for cooling agglomerated material. More particularly it relates to coolers for use in connection with rotary kilns in which ores are agglomerated.

A cooler for agglomerated ore should possess a number of special characteristics and the present invention seeks to provide a cooler possessing them. For instance, the usual apparatus for cooling clinker, such as that produced in the m' manufacture of cement, is not suitable for cooling agglomerated ore, due to the difierence in the nature of clinker and hot ore agglomerates.

In apparatus used for cooling clinker in the manufacture of cement, and the like, the cooling m is usually efiected by drawing cold air through layers of the clinker. In many cases relative movement between the clinker masses during the cooling operation is deliberately produced so that new surfaces of the-hot clinker will be m continually exposed to the cooling air. This procedure is not suitable for cooling agglomerated ore because the hot agglomerate is impermeable to 'air. The cooling air must, therefore, sweep over the surface of the agglomerate. Moreover, as-the agglomerate cools it becomes more fragile than clinker and should therefore be advanced during the cooling operation without being shaken as this would break up the agglomerated nodules.

According to the present invention the agglomerate is fed onto an endless articulated conveyor which moves it, without producing relative movement between the agglomerated nodules, through an open-ended cooler tube enclosing 35 the upper run of the conveyor. The wall of the cooler tube is provided with an opening preferably located mid-way between the ends of the tube and through which suction takes place. The cooling air will thus be drawn into both ends 40 of the tube toward the middle thereof and will be discharged through the intermediate opening. If desired, the direction of air flow may be reversed, i. e., compressed air may be admitted at the opening in the tube wall and discharged 45 at the ends of the tube. In either case the cooling air is caused to sweep over the surface of the agglomerate without applying suction at either end of the tube as this would present difficulties due to the fact that .the conveyor passes 50 through the opening at the end of the tube where the suction would be applied.

' A further feature of the invention is the manner in which the upper run of the endless con- 3 veyor. is supported within the cooler tube. It

rests on rollers mounted within the tube on shafts whose end portions extend outside of the tube where they are mounted in bearings. In this way the bearings are protected against dust and w against the high temperature prevailing inside of the tube and are easily accessible for lubrication and inspection.

Furthermore, the cooler tube, together with the conveyor-supporting rollers, their shafts and bearings, are permitted to expand and contract freely as a unit under the influence of temperature variations during the cooling operation. To effect this the entire structure is mounted by means of rollers on a pair of longitudinal rails.

Finally, the cooler tube is provided along its bottom with a groove or trough in which operates one run of an endless drag chain, or the like, by means of which dust or material spilled from. the conveyor is removed from the tube.

A cooler constructed in accordance with. the w invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a broken side elevation of the intermediate and end portions of the cooler and Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

The material to be cooled, such as agglomerated ore, is fed from a hopper l onto the upper run of an endless articulated conveyor "2. The conveyor may pass around rollers 3 and 4, one of which is rotated by motive power in any suitable way as by the driving element indicated at 3'.

The upper run of the conveyor passes longitudinally through a cooler tube ll having open ends 13 and M. The tube encloses the upper run of the conveyor throughout most of its length. The portion of the conveyor passing through the cooler tube rests on rollers 5 mounted in pairs on shafts 6. Each of the shafts 6 extends transversely of the tube H and its end portions extend outside of the tube where they are mounted in bearings l. The bearings l are supported on brackets I secured to the outside of the tube. The return run of the conveyor is supported at intervals by means of rollers B mounted in pairs on shafts 9 which rotate in bearings supported on the foundation members Ill.

The wall of the tube is provided with an openmg intermediate the ends of the tube which opening communicates with a spout l2. The spout l2 may be connected to any suitable suction device which causes air to enter the ends of the tube and be drawn toward and discharged through the spout 12. If desired compressed air may be supplied from any suitable source and admitted to the tube through the spout l2 in which case it will be discharged from the tube at the ends thereof. The opening in the; wall of the tube communicating with the spout I2 may be located at any suitable point intermediate the ends of the tube but preferably is located midway between the ends of the tube.

The tube I l is supported by means of rollers It on longitudinalrails l5 mounted on the foundation members ill. The rollers "5 are mounted on the brackets 1, which, as above stated, serve to support the bearings 1. Thus the tube, together with all of the parts connected with it, can expand and contract freely in a longitudinal direction on either side of the spout I29 The part of the tube where the spout is located may be considered a fixed point, this being the only place where the tube is in rigid connection with other parts, and therefore the tube expands and contracts on either side of this fixed point.

The lower portion of the tube II is shaped to provide a groove or trough 24' in which the upper run of an endless chain l1 may slide. The chain passes around pulleys l8 and I9 one of which may be rotated in any suitable way as by the driving element indicated at 25. The lower run of the chain is supported by rollers 20 mounted on shafts 2| which in turn are supported by the foundation members Ill. The upper run of the chain in moving through the tube ll removes dust and any material which happens to spill from the conveyor. The material moved along by the chain is discharged from the end of the tube ll through an inclined pipe or troughv 23.

In operation, the hot agglomerate is fed from the hopper l onto the upper run of the conveyor 2 which advances it through the cooler tube. The suction applied at the spout l2 causes the cooling air to enter the open ends of the tube, flow toward the spout l2, and be discharged at that point, or compressed cooling air is admitted at the spout l2 and is discharged at the ends of the tube. In either case the cooling air passes over the surface of the hot agglomerate on the conveyor and surrounds the conveyor and thereby sufilciently cools the agglomerate by the time it leaves the cooler tube. No relative movement is caused to take place between the nodules of the agglomerate and, in fact, precautions are taken to prevent any such disturbance of the nodules. This is brought about by the nature of the conveyor and the manner in which it is moved smoothly through the cooler tube on the supporting rollers without subjecting the agglomerate to any shaking action which would tend to pack the agglomerate and break up the agglomerated nodules.

' While the cooler was designed especially for use in connection with kilns in which ores are I agglomerated, and particularly rotary kilns for that purpose, it may nevertheless be used for cooling other agglomerated materials and may, if desired, even be used for-cooling clinker such as that produced in the manufacture of cement.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for cooling agglomerated material, and the like, comprising a tube which is open at both ends, an endless conveyor the conveying run of which is adapted to move longiof rails on which said rollers operate so that the tube and its connected parts can expand and contract longitudinally of the tube, means for feeding the hot agglomerate onto the conveyor, and means for circulating cooling air through the tube in contact with the agglomerate.

2. Apparatus for coohng agglomerated material, and the like, comprlsmg a tube which is open at both ends, an endless conveyor the conveying run of which is adapted to move longitudinally through the tube and through the openings in the ends thereof, rollers around which said conveyor passes, a plurality of rollers located in said tube for supporting the conveying run of the conveyor, shafts extending transversely of the tube on which said last named rollers are mounted, the ends of said shafts projecting outwardly beyond the wall of the tube, bearings positioned exteriorly of the tube and rigidly mounted thereon in which the ends of said shafts are mounted, a roller under each bearing, a pair of rails on which said rollers operate so that the tube and its connected parts can expand and contract longitudinally of the tube, one portion of the tube being'fixed so that the expansion and contraction of the tube takes place at either side of said fixed portion, means for feeding the hot agglomerate onto the conveyor, and means for circulating cooling air through the tube in contact with the agglomerate.

3. Apparatus for cooling agglomerated material, and the like, comprising a tube which is open at both ends, an endless conveyor the conveying run of which is adapted to move longitudinally through the tube and through the openings in the ends thereof, rollers around which said conveyor passes, a plurality of rollers located in said tube for supporting the conveying run of the conveyor, shafts extending transversely of the tube on which said last named rollers are mounted, the ends of said shafts projecting outwardly beyond the wall of the tube, bearings positioned exteriorly of the tube and rigidly mounted thereon in which the ends of said shafts are mounted, a roller under each bearing, a pair of rails on which said rollers operate so that the tube and its connected parts can expand and contract longitudinally of the tube,.means associated with the tube intermediate its ends whereby cooling air may be admitted at the ends of the tube and discharged through said means or admitted through said means and discharged at the ends of the tube, said means causing the portion of the tube where the means is located to be fixed so that the expansion and contraction of the tube and its connected parts takes place at either side of said fixed portion, and means for feeding the hot agglomerate onto the conveyor.

4. Apparatus for cooling agglomerated material, and the like, comprising a tube which is open at both ends, a conveyor adapted to move longitudinally through the tube and through the openings in the ends thereof, means for feeding the material to be cooled onto the conveyor, said tube having a trough extending longitudinally along its lower portion, and means moving through the tube for removing material which accumulates in said trough.

' NIKOLAI AHIMANN. 

